To succeed with your nonprofit fundraising events, you need to get people to them. Even the best idea won’t bring in money unless you have people attending your events and donating money at them. Without an influx of money, your nonprofit will be dead in the water. So how do you get people to come?
Here are a few ideas to get you started on promoting your nonprofit fundraising events:
- Start planning as early as you can. Waiting until the last minute will leave you few advertising options. Being prepared will give you more time to put the event together well, ensuring that people will be excited about the next event.
- Keep your target demographic in mind when choosing the type of nonprofit fundraising event to have. If your organization draws on older women, you probably don’t want to have a skateboarding competition. Likewise, if you are looking to draw in a wide range of people from the community, avoid niche events and focus on offering multiple activities that will appeal to a broad range of people.
- Create a press release about your fundraising event and send it to local newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, and online sources. Come up with a great headline that will attract attention and make people want to read the rest.
- Get everyone in your nonprofit organization involved and keep everyone informed. Even if someone isn’t actively involved in the planning, he or she can still tell others about the event if they are kept informed. Word of mouth is a great way to get free advertising.
- Write personal letters to influential people who might attend. Think about town officials, organization leaders, and other noteworthy people. Not only will you be giving them information about the event, but they might pass on that information to their friends. You’ll also gain recognition and support if you have important people there.
- Print flyers and put them wherever you can. Ask businesses if you can post them. Don’t forget about online bulletin boards or other sources.
- Make it worthwhile for people to attend. Depending on the event itself, you can offer incentives to get people to attend. Maybe you’ll give away free stuff. Maybe fun activities will keep children entertained and give parents a break for a few hours. Whatever you choose to do, include information about why people would want to attend in the advertising that you do.
As you can see, there are many ways to attract people to your nonprofit fundraising events. Keep your focus on the people you want to come and get the word out through various sources. You’ll find that your fundraising event will bring in people and donations.